How to extend

[Kkaayy]

We’ve currently got our house up for sale but don’t seem to be having much luck (although to be fair it has only been 4 weeks). We need more space now our children are older so we’re thinking about alternatives in case the house doesn’t sell. We love the area and the house just need more room.

My initial thoughts are getting rid of the conservatory and doing a double storey extension in its place. This will make our children’s rooms bigger although will be long rooms rather than a nice square shape. We need a downstairs toilet too. Not sure if using the alcove under the stairs could be an option? We have no window in our bathroom which I really don’t like but I don’t think there’s much we can do about that. Does anyone else have any other thoughts? Or a very approx cost for double storey extension, we would look to extend the kitchen/dining area out downstairs.

Is it mid terrace? Any space to the side? No side windows downstairs, which implies a terrace, but then there's a side window upstairs which implies not a terrace.
A loft conversion could be a bit cheaper than an extension. Or an insulated garden room. It very much depends on what the extra space is needed for.
You could add a velux roof light to get a window in the bathroom, if not doing a loft extension.

It’s a semi detached, there is some room to the side. We need the two back bedrooms made bigger, that’s the priority really. I’d love an entrance hall rather than a square but I’m not sure how possible that would be and if it’s even worth spending money on for a room that won’t be used.

I don’t think our roof is high enough to enable us to convert the loft.

-Contact Kirsties love it or list it- they might actually help with ideas
-We did a small, double extension, but it was part of a massive re-do of a derelict property, so I can't say what the cost of this component alone cost
-Our house is 100yrs old, with 2 stories on a 1m footings. No movement, no cracks etc. The surveyor said we'd need 3m depth footings for a 3x4m double, extension though! FAR deeper than anyone expected and more costly.
-We took out a wall and also had bifolds put in. The cost of steels went up weekly! It helps if you have good access for steels, otherwise, they might need to be craned over the house!
-If your bathroom has no windows, could you install velux windows (if direct to the roof above) or a light tunnel if there is a loft area?
-We have a toilet in the alcove under the stairs. Here when we moved in. There is a step down into it, to accommodate head height though, but if your stairs are high enough, a step wouldn't be needed. We have a tiny, corner sink with under storage in there- which is adequate. In a previous property, we installed a combi toilet/sink. Not ideal, but the only option in the space we had.
-For the under stair toilet, consider having the door opening into the hall, or a sliding door. Both will save 1m2 of floor space within the room

With the extension, would you expand the current kitchen/diner into the conservatory space?
What length would the new kids bedrooms be?

From others who have had extensions done recently I would guess you are looking at at least £100,000 for the extension. Definitely more of you are in the South or London. And it won't add that amount to the value of the house.
I don't meant this to sound patronising but as you are basically just making two of the bedrooms bigger, is it worth getting rid of some stuff or rethinking storage in the two kids rooms to make better use of space? It would be loads cheaper than an extension or moving house.
The under stairs loo will only be possible if you drains run across the front of the house rather than the back.

Velux bathroom in window is a good idea, not even something I had thought of! Yes if we went out the back we’d look to extend kitchen/diner or possible could have room to add downstairs toilet/utility there.

The kids’ rooms already have bare minimum in so unfortunately it’s not as simple as rethinking storage. Neither have wardrobes and use the built in wardrobes in our room.

Where do I start by finding out what’s possible with regards to extending? Is it a case of getting architects in? Do they charge to give initial advice about what’s possible?

A lot of architects will do an initial visit for free, to talk through options.

If you decide to go full double height extension, I would think very carefully about light in the current kitchen. It’s easy to end up with a dark middle room. I suspect a full double height extension would cost more like £150,000 - we paid £100k (£75k plus new kitchen, flooring, sanitary fittings for loo, etc) in 2022 to put a new kitchen-diner on the back and convert the old kitchen to a downstairs loo and utility. So just a single story extension.

If you only need bedroom space, you might be able to put a room in the loft - and potentially knock the smaller bedrooms through into one big bedroom. That would be cheaper, if it’s feasible (noting your comments about head height).

With building costs the way they are, unless you love your location and everything else about the house, I would look very seriously at moving.

Can you extend to the side if it’s a semi detached? Is there a garage to the side currently?

I can’t imagine you would get double extension permission at the back easily as surely it will block neighbours light?

But maybe ditch conservatory and do a proper single storey extension downstairs

Regarding architects, you could get some around for ideas. In terms of drawing up the actual plans, I 'think' its a draftsman that can do this part cheaper than a qualified architect. When we did ours, someone more junior in the firm drew up the plans, and their architect signed them off. From memory, this too was cheaper than having the architect draw them himself.

Hopefully someone on here can advise regarding this though.